A study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association says the length of telomeres — the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes — can determine how well your body responds to the common cold.

“We were looking at whether people whose telomeres in their blood sample were shorter than people with longer telomeres, were they at greater risk of becoming infected, when exposed to the cold virus,” said the study’s co-author Denise Janicki-Deverts, a researcher in the psychology department of Carnegie Mellon University.

Telomeres — which are akin to the plastic ends on shoelaces — protect the important coding DNA from being lost whenever the chromosomes divide. Studies have found that those who have inherited longer telomeres may age better, be healthier and even live longer.

More than 150 volunteers first had their blood tested to determine telomere length and were exposed to a cold virus. They were then quarantined in a hotel for five days to determine how quickly they developed a cold. Over 100 of the participants developed respiratory infections, and 33 had clinical symptoms of a cold.

“What we found was that shorter telomeres were associated with a greater risk of becoming infected with the cold virus,” said Janicki-Deverts. But the link was not seen in participants who were 18-21 years old.

After the age of 22, the telomere length started to predict whether individuals would develop an infection — with shorter telomeres indicating a likelihood of illnesses and longer telomeres indicating immunity. As participant age increased, telomere length became an even stronger indicator.

Janicki-Deverts says that while the research is preliminary, it could be potentially used as a screening measure to determine who may be more or less susceptible to acute upper respiratory illnesses — and allow physicians to come up with preventative measures to combat colds and the flu in the future.

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